Towel dispenser



L. L. PRICE TOWEL DISPENSER May 17, 1949.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1947 INVENTOR.

aiuren ce 0C rz'rrq flttorney:

L. L. PRICE TOWEL DISPENSER May- 17, 1949.

Filed July 3, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ocurenec' Price BY I L. L. PRICE TOWEL DISPENSER May 17, 1949.

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR. [aurenee price rgl/l/l/ ll Filed July 5,1947 Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED S'i'A'i'Efi i a'i'hhl'i' OFFICE 9Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in towel dispensers.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a novel, simple, andhighly durable arresting mechanism which will momentarily arrestwithdrawal of the toweling from the dispenser and thereafter immediatelyclear itself to enable a subsequent length of toweling to be withdrawn.By momentarily arresting the withdrawal of the toweling wastage oftoweling is avoided.

Another object of the invention is to provide a towel dispenser whichhas a novel drag means for imposing a drag on the soiled toweling as itproceeds to the windup roll which is highly advantageous in that itcauses the soiled toweling to be tightly wound on the windup roll whichis highly desirable and even in the event that the toweling shouldbecome twisted as it progresses toward the Windup roll, the drag platewill cause the soiled toweling to be wound up smoothly and evenly on thewindup roll.

Another object of the invention is to provide a towel dispenser whichprovides a chamber adapted to receive a roll of clean toweling andbehind which there is a partition that keeps the soiled toweling as itprogresses toward the windup roll from contacting the clean toweling,the partition being characterized by the fact that it is hingedlymounted or swingably mounted adjacent its upper edge enabling it to beswung forwardly and upwardly beneath the measuring roll thus providingready access to various parts of the dispenser in threadin the towelingand in mounting or detaching the cabinet on a wall.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means forinstalling the working parts of the dispenser within a towel cabinet.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will be mademanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointedout in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein: a

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved towel dispenser, theworking parts or chassis being shown as having been removed from thecabinet;

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through the improved dispenser,parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a View in side elevation of the arrest- 1 ing mechanismillustrating in full lines the measuring roll as havin been arrested andin dotted lines the postion assumed by the parts immediately after themeasuring roll has had its forward rotation arrested and the tension onthe toweling has been released;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating the position of theparts wherein the mechanism has been readied for arresting forwardrotation of the measuring roll; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially upon the line 55 uponFig. 4, in the direction indicated.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, the improved toweldispenser comprises a suitable cabinet generally indicated at ill, andwhich is of box-like structure. The forward wall of this cabinet isprovided by two doors l l and I2. The upper door II is swingably mountedon vertical hinges and is adapted to cover the upper portion of theforward side of the cabinet. This door may carry a mirror on its forwardside. The lower door I2 is hingedly connected to the bottom of thecabinet by horizontal hinges I3. Its upper edge is beveled and recessedas at M below end extensions [5. These end extensions are engageablewith the bottomof the upper i I when both doors are in closed positionso that when the upper door I l is locked closed, such as bythe lock I6,it will lock the lower door 52 in closed position. The bottom edge ofthe upper door H is also beveled ofi as at H and cooperates with the topedge of the lower door [2 to provide a horizontally extending slotthrough which the clean toweling is withdrawn from the cabinet to form asuspended loop L, see Fig. 2. Near the end walls of the cabinet thereare pairs of spaced angle irons I8 which provide guides for the bottomedges of spaced frame plates l9- and 2t. Spacing brackets 2! are securedin the cabinet on the end walls thereof and are apertured as at 22 toreceive bolts, not shown, that are extended through apertures 23 in theframe plates is and 2% to fasten the frame of the dispenser within thecabinet. The bottom wall of the cabinet has an opening 24' therein nearits rear wall through which the soiled toweling from the loop L reentersthe cabinet.

The cabinet is designed to be mounted on a wall either by means ofscrews or the equivalent extendin through inverted keyhole slots 25 orby means of screws 26 that are extended through apertures somewhat lowerdown.

The end plates l9 and 20 of the frame are connected by a measuring roll21 and a rewind roll 28. Both of these rolls have trunnions extendingthrough the end plates and are preferably covered with emery cloth,sandpaper, or the equivalent, so as to have a strong frictionalengagement with the toweling that passes thereover. These two rolls eachhave sprockets thereon which are disposed adjacent the inner face of theend plate l9 and an endless chain 29 is trained over these twosprockets. As the sprockets are of the same size and the two rolls 2'!and 28 are of the same size, the toweling as it is withdrawn will rotatethe measuring roll 21. The roll 28 will be driven thereby and will causethe toweling to wind up to the same extent that it is withdrawn so thatthe length of the loop L is maintained constant.

In association with the measuring roll 21 there is a pinch roll 30, thetrunnions of which are rotatable in angular slots 3| in the end plates19 and 20. This pinch roll descends by gravity in these slots and willpress the toweling against the upper forward side of the measuring roll21. The windup roll 32 has trunnions disposed in openings 33 in the endplates and descends by gravity therein toward the windup roll 28. Apartition 34 is hingedly or swingably mounted on a transverselyextending bar 35 that connects the end plates and is suspendedtherefrom. This partition thus cooperates with the lower door l2 indefining a chamber between the end plates adapted to receive a supplyroll of clean toweling T. From this supply roll the toweling is broughtupwardly over the forward side of the measuring roll and is then trainedabout the pinch roll 30. From the pinch roll it passes out of thecabinet through the horizontal slot provided between the doors I I andt2. In training the toweling around the pinch roll the pinch roll may belifted in the slots 3i to facilitate drawing the toweling around it.However, when allowed to drop by gravity against the measuring roll,tensions applied to the loop L will be efiective to draw the pinch rolldownwardly against the measuring roll and thus assure of a goodfrictional engagement between the toweling and the measuring roll. Afterpassing through the loop L the toweling reenters the cabinet through theopening 24 and is pressed downwardly against the top of the partition 34by means of a drag plate 31. This drag plate is pivotally mounted at itsends on the end plates l 9 and 20 and is urged downwardly by means of atension spring 38. At the extreme ends of the drag plate there areupstanding sides 39 which tend to confine the toweling at its edges.After passing beneath the drag plate 31 the toweling is wound about thewindup roll 32 which, as its trunnions can freely slide downwardlythrough the openings 33, rests by gravity on the rewind roll 28. As thisroll presents a rough surface, it is in strong frictional engagementwith the toweling that is wound on the roll 32 thus causing the roll 32to rotate and draw the toweling from beneath the drag plate 31 with theresult that the toweling is very tightly wound on the roll 32 which ishighly desirable. Even if the toweling should become twisted I find thatthe presence of the drag plate causes the toweling to be wrapped tightlyand smoothly on the windup roll 32. A separator or partition 36 adjacentthe measuring roll keeps the soiled toweling on the windup roll fromcontacting the clean toweling around the pinch roll.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the mechanismfor temporarily arresting withdrawal of the toweling from the measuringroll 21. To this end, the shaft of the measuring roll extends throughthe end plate l9 and is equipped at its outer end with a disc 40 havingon its periphery a, single rearwardly directed tooth 4|. A first stop,generally indicated at 42, is pivoted at 43 on a plate 44 that ismounted on the outer side of the end plate i9. This stop carries anoutwardly extending flange 45 that is engageable by a second stop 45.Downward swinging movement of the first stop 42 is limited by a stop pin42a. The stop 46 is mounted for swinging movement on the extension ofthe shaft of the measuring roll and is located behind the disc 49. Onthe rear or inner side of the disc 48 adjacent the tooth 4| there is aninwardly extending boss or lug 41 which is engageable with the edge 48of the second stop 46 so that although the second stop 46 may swingrather freely with relation to the extension of the shaft of themeasuring roll its rotation is limited by this boss. On the first stop42 there is pivoted at 49 a pawl 59 which rides on the periphery of disc40 and which is engageable with its single tooth 4|. A tension spring Siis connected to the end plate i 9 and by means of a spring hanger 52 isconnected to an outwardly extending pin or boss 53 on the disc 49. Thistension spring is effective to urge the disc 4!) and consequently themeasuring roll 21 in a reverse direction during one-half of a revolutionof the disc 49, but is effective to urge the disc and the measuring rollin a forward direction during the other half revolution.

The operation of the above-described construction is substantially asfollows:

Assuming that the cabinet has been loaded and is ready for operation,tension applied to the loop L of the toweling is effective to causerotation of the measuring roll 2? in a forward direction as indicated bythe arrow on Fig, 2. At the start of the operation the second stop 46 isin the position wherein it is hanging from the extension of the shaft ofthe measuring roll or in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3. Asthe measuring roll 21 commences its rotation the disc 40 is rotatedtherewith and during its rotation the boss or lug 41 engages the edge 43on the second stop 46 and causes the second stop to rotate therewith.When the second stop 46 is carried by the boss or lug 41 through or to aposition wherein it is standing upwardly from the extension of the shaftof the measuring roll 21 the stop 46 will then fall forwardly until itencounters the flange 45 on the first stop as is illustrated in fulllines on Fig. 3. As the measuring roll 21 continues its rotation theboss or lug 41 will eventually engage the edge 48 on the second stop 46and as the second stop is restrained by the flange 45, continuedrotation of the roll 21 and the disc 4!] is thus arrested. In thisposition the tension spring 5! is effective to urge the disc 40 toreversely rotate as is illustrated in Fig. 3. Also, in this position itwill be noted that the pawl 50 will have dropped behind the single tooth4|. The reverse rotation of the disc 44 by means of the spring 5| ispermitted as soon as the tension on the toweling has been released. Thisreverse rotation is effective to cause the tooth 4| to push upwardly onthe pawl 59 and to thus swing the first stop 42 until its flange 45 hasengaged the extension 55 on the rewind roll 28 which serves as a stoplimiting upward swinging movement of the first stop 42. In this positionthe pawl 59 will have shifted from the full line position to the dottedline position shown in Fig. 3, so that reverse rotation of the measuringroll is very small. When the first stop 42 has thus been swung from thefull line position shown in Fig. 3' to=the dotted line position showntherein, the flange MS has been moved out of the path of the: secondstop 46' so that the second stop may then swing by gravity from the fullline position shown in Fig. 3 to the dotted line position shown therein.This clears the mechanism for a subse quent operation. Consequently,when a subsequent tension is applied to the toweling sufficient to:overcome the reverse rotational effort of the spring ii the measuringroll and the disc is can then proceed on their forward movement inasmuchas the edge 48 on the second stop 36 has advanced ahead of the boss orlug 41. At the start of this forward rotation the single tooth M recedesfrom the pawl 50 allowing the first stop; to dropby gravity from thedotted line position shown in Fig. 3', to the full line position whereinits flange 45 is returned to the path of the second stop when the secondstop M is subsequently picked up by the boss or lug il and returned tothe full line position shown in Fig. 3. It will thus be appreciated thatby applying a tension to the towelinghanging in front of the cabinet asuitable length of toweling as measured by the measuring roll can bewithdrawn. This continues until the boss 4'! engages the edge 4&8 on thesecond stop which temporarily arrests further rotation of the measuringroll. When the tension on the toweling is then released, spring 55reversely rotates the measuring roll and the disc at for a very shortdistance that is sufiicient to cause pawl 59] to shift the first stop d2out of engagement with the second stop it thus clearing the mechanismfor a subsequent operation.

It is preferable to have the first stop .2 and the pawl 5i! urged toreturn to the full line position shown in Fig. 3 by gravity and it isalso desirable to have the second stop it returned from the full lineposition shown in Fig. 3, to the dotted line position shown therein bygravity when the first stop is moved to its dotted line position shownin Fig. 3. However, it is contemplated within the scope of the inventionto use springs to urge these parts into their respective positionseither in lieu ofgravity or cooperative therewith. By having these partsarranged to function by gravity the device is rendered somewhat simplerin construction and there are fewer parts to get out of order.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the improvedconstruction is highly advantageous in that the arrangement is such asto facilitate threading of the toweling when a new supply roll T isinstalled. The free end of the toweling is merely drawn upwardly overthe measuring roll and brought around the pinch roll 3!] which can beelevated in the slots 3! to facilitate this application. After thenbeing drawn through the slot between the doors to form the loop L it isthen inserted upwardly through the opening 24. The ability of thepartition 3 3 to be swung forwardly and upwardly from an axis about itsupper edge facilitates the insertion of the free end beneath the dragplate 3? after which it is started on its windin on the windup roll 32.It is desirable to have a pin 54 projecting outwardly adjacent the pawl56 to limit rotation of the pawl with respect to the first stop. Thispin may also be employed to limit swinging movement of the first stop inthe event that the trunnion or shaft end of the rewind roll is notextended through the plate 9 to serve as a stoplimiting movement of thefirst stop. In some constructions such as, for example, in paper toweldispensers, there is no occasion to use either 6 a. rewind roll or awindup roll and in this eventv the; in 54 is utilized to limit upwardswingingmovement of the first stop as well, as to limit upward swingingmovement of the pawl 50 with respect thereto.

The ability of the partition 34 to be swung upwardly and forwardlybeneath the measuring roll also facilitates the driving of screws 26 orother fasteners in mounting the cabinet on a wall while the internalmechanism or chassis is mounted in the cabinet by means of the boltsextending through apertures 23 and through the brackets 2i. If, in thecourse of usage, repairs are necessary, these bolts which extend throughthe apertures 23 and brackets 2| can be easily removed and the entireworking mechanism can be slid forwardly between the pairs of angles l8and a new mechanism inserted by way of replacement without disturbing inany way the mounting of the cabinet on the wall.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope. of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll rotatable as the toweling isdispensed, a stop mechanism actuated by and controlling the rollincluding mutually engageable stops, one of said stops being movableinto and out of a position wherein it is engageable by the other stop,the other stop being movable by the measuring roll into a positionengageable with the first stop, means for automatically reversing themeasuring roll after the stops have mutually engaged and tension on thetoweling has been released, and means operable by reverse movement ofthe roll for causing the first stop to clear the second stop during thereverse movement.

2. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll, a first stop, a second stopmovable by the measuring roll into engagement with the first stop, meansfor arresting rotation of the roll after the stops have mutuallyengaged, means for urging the measuring roll to reverse when the stopshave engaged, means operable by reverse movement of the measuring rollfor moving the first stop out of the path of the second stop andlimiting reverse movement of the measuring roll, the second stop beingurged to advance beyond the point of mutual engagement between the stopsimmediately when the first stop is moved out of its path, and the firststop being urged to return to its stop-engaging position upon furtherforward movement of the measuring roll.

3. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll, a first stop normally urgedinto stop-engagin position, a second stop movable by the measuring rollinto engagement therewith and serving when in engagement with the firststop to limit forward rotation of the measuring roll, means for urgingthe measuring roll to reversely rotate when the steps have engaged,means limiting reverse rotation of the measuring roll, and meansoperable by the reverse rotation of the measuring roll for moving thefirst stop out of stop-engaging position.

4. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll, a first stop normally urgedinto stop-engaging position, a second stop movable by the measuring rollinto engagement therewith and serving when in engagement with the firststop to limit forward rotation of the measuring roll, means for urgingthe measuring roll to reversely rotate when the stops have engaged,means limiting reverse rotation of the measuring roll, and meansoperable by the reverse rotation of the measurin roll for moving thefirst stop out of stop-engaging position, the second stop being biasedto advance beyond stop-engaging position.

5. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll, a first stop normally urgedinto stop-engaging position, a second stop movable by the measuring rollinto engagement therewith and serving when in engagement with the firststop to limit forward rotation of the measuring roll, means for urgingthe measuring roll to reversely rotate when the stops have engaged,means limiting reverse rotation of the measuring roll, and meansoperable by the reverse rotation of the measurin roll for mov ing thefirst stop out of stop-engaging position, the second stop being biasedto advance beyond stop-engaging position, and the first stop beingbiased to return to stop-engaging position when released to do so byfurther forward movement of the measuring roll.

6. In a towel dispenser, a measurin roll, a disc rotatable therewith, afirst stop, a second stop rotatable with the measuring roll and having alimited rotary movement relatively thereto and adapted to engage thefirst stop, a lug on the disc engageable with the second stop when thestops are in engagement to arrest rotation of the measuring roll, meansurging the measuring roll to reversely rotate upon engagement betweenthe stops, and means operable by reverse rotation of the measuring rollfor moving the first stop out of engagement with the second stop andlimiting reverse rotation of the measuring roll.

7. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll, a disc rotatable therewith, afirst stop, a second stop rotatable with the measuring roll and having alimited rotary movement relatively thereto and adapted to engage thefirst stop, a 111g on the disc engageable with the second stop when thestops are in engagement to arrest rotation of the measuring roll, meansurging the measuring roll to reversely rotate upon engagement betweenthe stops, and means operable by reverse rotation of the measuring rollfor movin the first stop out of engagement with the second stop andlimiting reverse rotation of the measuring roll, the second stop beingbiased to advance beyond stop-engaging position.

8. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll, a disc rotatable therewith, afirst stop, a second stop rotatable with the measuring roll and having alimited rotary movement relatively thereto and adapted to engage thefirst stop, a lug on the disc engageable with the second stop when thestops are in engagement to arrest rotation of the measuring roll, meansurging the measuring roll to reversely rotate upon engagement betweenthe stops, and means operable by reverse rotation of the measuring rollfor moving the first stop out of engagement with the second stop andlimiting reverse rotation of the measuring roll, the second stop beingbiased to advance beyond stopengaging position, and the first stop beingbiased to return to stop-engaging position when released to do so byfurther forward movement of the measuring roll.

9. In a towel dispenser, a measuring roll rotatable as the toweling isdispensed, a stop mechanism actuated by and controlling the rollincludin mutually engageable stops, one of said stops being movable intoand out of a position wherein it is engageable by the other stop, theother stop being movable by the measuring roll into a positionengageable with the first stop, and means for automatically reversingthe measuring roll after the stops have mutually engaged and tension onthe toweling has been released, the first stop being allowed to advancebeyond stop engaging position during the reverse movement of the roll.

LAURENCE L. PRICE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Australia 1940

